A subcommittee of the Planning Commission had a meeting today to talk about more specific rules on how ACUs will work. This should fly back to the main committee, get voted on, and hopefully become law in the new year.
Some highlights:
Just like ADUs, ACUs will be allowed in all residential units.
ADUs won’t be allowed to contain ACUs. They will be allowed to have “live-work units”, though, which is an existing business type where you have < 2 employees and < 5 customers in your business at once.
Live-work units may no longer need to file a site use plan. City staffers don’t want to subject ACUs to that sort of red tape, so it makes sense that they’d want to change this rule.
Businesses in ACUs can only operate 7am-9pm, and will be subject to other rules. They also can’t take up more than 40% or 1000 sq.ft. of a building, and they can’t exist if no one is living in its principal housing unit. Also…
No outdoor seating will be allowed. It seems like the idea is that ACUs are supposed to be for little boutique bakeries or sandwich shops, rather than full-blown restaurants.
City Council is especially excited about ACUs as a way to improve food access. It looks like they wanted to use this to encourage bodegas/corner stores, but they were disappointed by how zoning laws can’t be used to guarantee fresh or healthy foods (no shit, Sherlock).
If you want a laugh, you should also take a look at some of the comments people wrote about this proposed policy change.
These people are nuts. The WWII-era Philadelphia rowhomes have had ACUs for generations and they are a great way to avoid using your car for daily necessities.
Hate to be debbie downer but you all know somebody is going to F’ Up the ADU & ACU concepts for the city if approved. Bhola Gupta is the worst landlord in the city and I can easily see him try to build some sHole shack out back of his already sh##y houses.
Unfortunately the problem with small corner stores is limited selection (seem to promote beer and smokes over heath food) and high prices. Maybe good for on “S I’m out of something needed for dinner” but the big grocery stores are much better on selection and price. Just be careful which one. Just yesterday I needed something and went to three stores to get amount I needed, Same item was $3.89, $4.49 and $4.99.
I don’t think that the neighborhood corner store is intended to supplant ones need for comprehensive grocery shopping, etc., rather it’s to fulfill a niche need for picking up items quickly without having to get in a car and hit a larger store. It’s a time oriented value proposition. In Raleigh, this exists with places like the Glenwood Pharmacy+Market. Before Publix was opened, I knew lots of folks who popped into there to grab just a few items. While everyone realized that they were paying a premium for that convenience, I didn’t hear many complaints about it. These stores are also excellent places to set up a grill/hot food take-out service, and I’ve always thought that the Glenwood Pharmacy+Market would be an excellent location for something like that. Just look at how all of these bodegas work in places like NYC. They are very popular in urban areas.
I have started following a developer out of Durham that is marketing their specialization on ADUs which I thought was pretty cool. Hopefully, we see a few company get experience at building them to help make things less daunting for homebuyers thinking about it
Haven is also part of the development group behind the Idlewild houses referenced previously as well as the tax credit multi-family stuff proposed out by the SE YMCA, I believe…
Sounds like the City is trying to make it easier for people to build ADUs by working with designers to create pre-approved designs with plans available for purchase. It’s called the Fast-Track ADU Program.
What do y’all think of this? Personally, it sounds like a fantastic idea to take advantage of the new ADU legislation and help bring about more new construction, but only time will tell how effective this is at spurring people to build a new structure. I’m super excited that they’re doing this, though, and can’t wait to see the designs.
if the homeowner is in good enough standing with their neighbors i doubt they would allow bad elements to persist for long. 3216 Huntleigh Dr, Raleigh, NC 27604 | Zillow this house at this link recently sold and im 99 precent certain this owner was my principal at east millbrook in the 1980’s. the backyard sell photos appear to have small dwellings.
thats a bad scene but i recently has a deck built in roanake va to city specs…had to be city inspected at the end of the build. it could survive artillery blasts but they did make the builder change the handrails for better grasping.
I’m a little mixed on this ACU text change. Maybe because I haven’t seen the full presentation, but wouldn’t it be better to address this via zoning? I don’t see how this solves problems that can’t be addressed in zoning. I’m assuming this text change will affect only single family homes since renters and apartment complexes won’t allow people to run businesses. I also assume this wouldn’t apply to HOAs either.
I’m also not familiar with the fire code limit for houses or apartments so I’m not sure how many people would be allowed in home businesses.
I’m good with mixed use developments and neighborhood stores, but why can’t we address this with zoning for commercial in residential areas? I do understand some of the comments. I wouldn’t want to live in an apartment or condo under someone who runs a dance studio or daycare. I do have a daycare and medical office on the same street I live on. I wouldn’t mind some more stores on my street, but out of the home I’m mixed about.
Good examples of businesses that are in neighborhoods currently in Raleigh:
Fairview/Oberlin - There are 2 restaurants, a pizza place, coffee place, cleaners, and it appears now hair salon.
E. Whitaker Mill Rd. - Overall in Five Points, there are quite a few shops within walking distance of the houses there. Walgreens provides necessities while you also have breweries, bakeries, and other small shops.
Edwards Mill/Ed Dr. - Not counting the Harris Teeter shopping center, there are shops on the east side of Edwards Mill that are tied with the neighborhood around there.
N Person/Peace St. - Along Person St there are shops that are well integrated into the neighborhood.
What they should push for is commercial zoning in residential areas. There are a few places I think would definitely benefit from having commercial in their areas:
Lookout Mountain Rd. near Lake Lynn - There are over 1,744 apartments in that area. I don’t understand why there isn’t any commercial uses there. All you have is residential zoning in that area. Is there anything that is preventing commercial in this area outside of zoning?
Sandy Forks Rd - There are currently 1,071 apartments between the two apartment complexes there. There are more currently being developed so it will have a lot of units in general. Commercial zoning (not necessarily anything major) would be good for the neighborhood here. There are shops over near Spring Forest/Falls of Neuse, but I don’t see why there aren’t shops closer.
Lynn Rd near Six Forks - again over 1,000 apartments.
Instead of a text change, I think we should try to work to get commercial zoning into some of the more dense residential areas.
The problem is that the zoning map change process is difficult, and reactive. In order to add small commercial areas, you’d first have to change the comprehensive plan and its Future Land Use Map, then go through the ~year-long rezoning process… all to open one small business.
Almost no other country in the world (just the US, Canada, and Australia) has anything equivalent to single-house-only, residential-only zoning. The lowest-density zones in countries like Germany, Japan, etc. all allow small commercial uses, and on just about every single measure their people are healthier & happier than Americans.
